Stoic Lessons - Memento Mori

2026-09-01

I do think there are different ways to live and to try to live. Some people really like the Bible and try to live by the rules in there. Some people are Buddhist and try to live by his teachings, my favorite one being ‘Life is suffering’. I think there are other religions as well.

There are also non religious ways to live, I dont know as many. Some live by the Bushido code perhaps, honor over all. Some get really deep into entrepreneurship, yoga, new age stuff, etc. Some of these are more lifestyles than ways to live but there is a lot of grey area.

One of my favorite set of teaching is Stoicism, it is a bunch of greek / roman philosophers that are grouped together into a kind of philosophy. I dont think it is very religious or god centric but I am sure they mention their own gods. One of my favorite books is Meditations which is some of this philosophy, it is kind of a hard read for me but very enjoyable.

But I wanted to think about a single stoic lesson, the one being Memento Mori. The phrase means, ‘Remember you will die’ and I am going to summarize the parable as it follows (grabbed from the website):

Memento Mori is believed to have originated from an ancient Roman tradition.

After a major military victory, the triumphant military generals were paraded through the streets to the roars of the masses. The ceremonial procession could span the course of a day with the military leader riding in a chariot drawn by four horses. There was not a more coveted honor. The general was idolized, viewed as divine by his troops and the public alike. But riding in the same chariot, standing just behind the worshipped general, was a slave. The slave’s sole responsibility for the entirety of the procession was to whisper in the general’s ear continuously, “Respice post te. Hominem te esse memento. Memento mori!”

“Look behind. Remember thou art mortal. Remember you must die!”

The slave served to remind the victor at the peak of glory, this god-like adoration would soon end, while the truth of his mortality remained.

It is funny an interesting for me to think about a powerful general being paraded around town with people cheering his name and drinking in his honor and then a slave reminding him ‘remember you will die’. And no matter how powerful or successful you become, no matter how much money you have in the bank, no matter the lavish trips you take, no matter how many kids you have, no matter how tight knit your family is, no matter how beloved you are in your community, you too will die one day.

I feel this knowledge sometimes makes me really anxious, something thinking about dying make me sad. On the other hand sometimes thinking about my own death gives me purpose. There are so many opportunities to do nothing, to sit and watch the breeze, but the knowledge of my own death pushes me to do something, anything. Maybe it pushes me to write this blog. It definitely pushes me to have kids, travel, connect with family and friends, etc. Sometimes it even keeps me humble.

I dont think that you should always be frantically thinking about your death, I feel that might be a little paralyzing, but I think that it is good to reflect on your life frequently and part of that is acknowledging your own death. Hopefully it is far away and you are able to live a long and fulfilling life, but remember, even while you are the pinnacle of your life and success, you will die.

-Gary